Every map of the technique tribes is drawn by one of the tribes.

A full-spine system of analysis and adjusting developed by Clarence S. Gonstead. The GCSS is a 501(c)(3) formed in 1979 by seven doctors who had attended Gonstead seminars, to certify skill level and conduct research.

What it emphasises

In the society's own words, its founding purpose was "to certify the skill level of chiropractors claiming to use the Gonstead Technique and conduct research to test his ideas." The Diplomate testing covers case management, the x-ray listing system and analysis, plus ten adjustment set-ups performed live.

Feel of the community

Not yet sourced from the tradition or from an attributed practitioner.

Who it tends to fit

Not yet sourced.

Certification path

Diplomate: minimum five years of active Gonstead practice and 300 hours of GCSS-approved instruction (200 post-graduate hours plus 10 hours teaching), per the 2026 Diplomate application packet, concluding in a two-day testing procedure. Diplomate status is maintained by an annual peer-reviewed case presentation and skill assessment. Fellow: open to Diplomates with not less than 595 approved hours of Gonstead study, at least three years as a Diplomate, attendance at 35 Gonstead seminars (two within the previous year) and ten years of full-time post-graduate practice; elected by the College of Fellows.

Cost

unverified Seminar and testing fees are not published on the society's public pages.

Who teaches it, and where

Certified Gonstead teaching seminars and courses, including the Gonstead Methodology Institute and Gonstead System Seminars with Dr Greg Plaugher (3 to 30 hours, in person and by webinar). The annual Gonstead Extravaganza is co-hosted by GMI and the GCSS in Mount Horeb, Wisconsin. Students should note that the GCSS publishes a position statement on teaching seminars to non-DCs and to students not enrolled in an accredited chiropractic college — read it before assuming you can attend.

Evidence posture

The society states it funds an ongoing research programme intended to scientifically validate the Gonstead system. We record that the claim is made and take no position on it.

A posture and spinal-alignment protocol combining adjusting, mirror-image exercise and traction, taught by CBP Non-Profit, Inc. of Eagle, Idaho.

What it emphasises

In its own words, CBP is for chiropractors "who look to spinal rehabilitation and postural correction as means to address not just pain and disability, but to optimize function and neurophysiology."

Feel of the community

Not yet sourced.

Who it tends to fit

Not yet sourced.

Certification path

General (Basic) Certification: seven CBP modules totalling roughly 90 hours, then a General Certification Exam with a written and a hands-on component, taken in person. The exam is only administered on the dedicated exam day of the Basic Certification Series at the CBP Doctor Institute in Eagle, Idaho — the 2026 date is 3 October 2026. Module 3 must be completed separately through WebExercises Academy and is not included in the Basic Certification Series fee. Advanced Certification: seven further specialised seminars (roughly 180 hours combined), a case presentation delivered to peers at the CBP Annual Conference and submitted in writing, and verification that CBP-related spinal rehabilitative equipment is in use in your practice. Maintenance: attend a CBP-run seminar once every two years; certification is temporarily revoked for lapses and fully revoked after five years without attendance, after which the series or exam must be repeated.

Cost

Certified DCs pay a reduced seminar registration of $449, which does not apply to the Annual Conference or to the Basic and Advanced Certification Series. A CE certificate costs $60 and is not included in course fees. unverified Full cost of the certification path.

Who teaches it, and where

CBP Seminars and the CBP Doctor Institute, Eagle, Idaho, plus regional module weekends. CBP Non-Profit states it is recognised by the PACE programme of the Federation of Chiropractic Licensing Boards.

Evidence posture

CBP states that its techniques have been subjected to more clinical trials and peer-reviewed publication than any other chiropractic approach, and points to over 300 publications. That is the organisation's characterisation of its own literature; we record it without evaluating it or comparing it to anyone else's.

An indicator-based system developed by Major Bertrand DeJarnette, organised around three categories of patient presentation, with cranial work and CMRT (chiropractic manipulative reflex technique, the organ reflex work) alongside it.

What it emphasises

SOTO-USA describes SOT as offering "an indicator based, comprehensive approach to patient assessment and treatment", developed over seventy years, in which DeJarnette went beyond spinal adjusting to methods addressing the cranium, pelvis, extremities and organs — "a system of adjusting patterns in the body, not just single body parts."

Feel of the community

Not yet sourced.

Who it tends to fit

Not yet sourced.

Certification path

Worth knowing before you start: there are two organisations, not one. SOTO-USA (a 501(c)(3)) and SORSI (founded 1929) both teach and certify, and the trademarks are split between them — SORSI owns SOT® and licenses it to SOTO-USA, while SOTO-USA owns Sacro Occipital Technique®. SOTO-USA: the CSP (Certified SOT Practitioner) series can be taken either as four travel weekends of live courses covering the three categories, CMRT, research and hands-on practice, or as a hybrid of an online programme plus one live hands-on course; you then sit the CSP exam. CSCP (Certified SOT Cranial Practitioner) is the advanced cranial series, and CSP must be held first. Anyone licensed to diagnose may take the courses; only chiropractors are eligible to certify. SORSI runs its own certifications, including DICS, with membership in good standing, research-paper presentation and peer-reviewed publication requirements.

Cost

unverified Both organisations offer significant member discounts on courses; the amounts are not published on the public pages.

Who teaches it, and where

SOTO-USA course series and annual symposium, with named instructors per series, sometimes hosted on chiropractic college campuses. SORSI runs a parallel programme. Online portions must be completed within one year of access.

Evidence posture

SOTO-USA states that SOT is one of the most researched chiropractic techniques and that the organisation publishes more research than almost any other in the profession. Recorded as their claim; not evaluated or compared here.

An upper-cervical procedure organised around what the association calls the Atlas Subluxation Complex, using precise imaging and a low-force correction. The organisation was founded in 1966 by Dr Ralph Gregory.

What it emphasises

The association describes board-certified doctors as having "completed all of the education and testing processes that are involved in the imaging, analysis, biomechanical understanding, and adjusting skillset development", and frames the certification programme as a testing and mentoring process rather than seminar attendance alone.

Feel of the community

Not yet sourced.

Who it tends to fit

Not yet sourced.

Certification path

Board Certification is voluntary and additional to membership. There are three candidate levels followed by a final board certification submission. Level I is tested on taking accurate, correctly positioned x-rays; Level II adds accurate and consistent analysis. Members must attend a conference every two years to remain active, and anyone in the certification programme must pass a submission at their current level every two years or be listed as inactive. A real cost most people miss: unverified x-ray equipment reportedly must be aligned to NUCCA standards to participate in all three levels. We found this on a NUCCA-affiliated monograph site rather than on the association's own pages — ask them directly, because if it holds it is an equipment cost, not a course fee.

Cost

Level one is $100 for a new graduate completing it within a year of graduation. Level two registration is $550, and that payment rolls into level three if a new graduate completes level two within one year of graduation. unverified Level three and final board submission fees, and the cost of aligning x-ray equipment.

Who teaches it, and where

NUCCA seminars and conferences, taught by board-certified NUCCA doctors, structured to work alongside the certification programme. The association also runs a virtual career fair connecting students with NUCCA practices.

Evidence posture

The association states that board certification is voluntary and represents additional education, testing and mentorship beyond membership rather than a requirement to practise the procedure. Several organisations on this page publish internal training designations of this kind; they describe standing within that organisation and say nothing about any other tradition. Nothing on this page ranks traditions against each other.

An upper-cervical approach built on the premise that the upper cervical joints are asymmetrical from person to person, so imaging is individualised to each patient's own joint planes before a specific correction is made. A 501(c)(3) society.

What it emphasises

The society's own seminar descriptions cover "the Blair concepts of misalignment of the upper cervical spine, spinographic technique for the imaging of specific articular misalignments, the interpretation of spinographic findings, leg length procedure and analysis, paraspinal skin temperature differential pattern analysis" and the named atlas and axis adjustments.

Feel of the community

Not yet sourced.

Who it tends to fit

Not yet sourced.

Certification path

Student Certification exists, and there is no fee for it. Requirements: be actively enrolled at an accredited chiropractic college, be a student member, attend at least one Primary Blair seminar series given by a certified instructor or an approved Blair elective course, submit the certificate of attendance, and submit four short videos demonstrating the named C1 and C2 single-sided adjustments — stance, contact point, contact hand, angle and corrective movement — alongside testing on the objectives of each Blair imaging view. Level 1 (doctors): one year in active practice, one year as a full dues-paying member, attendance at a full three-part seminar series, and a pass at 75% from each of two instructors in each of the Imaging, Practical and Oral/Written sections, all achieved within three years of the first attempt. Instructor: five years' membership, three full three-part series under different instructors, Level 2 held for at least a year, and five years of practice using Blair on at least 80% of patients.

Cost

No fee for Student Certification. unverified Seminar registration and membership dues.

Who teaches it, and where

A three-part seminar series — Primary, Intermediate and Advanced — each 12 hours, taught by certified Blair instructors and often hosted in practices. The Intermediate seminar is structured as 2.5 hours anatomy and biomechanics, 4.5 hours x-ray positioning and analysis, and 5 hours technique. Instructors must run all seminars through the society's own site.

Evidence posture

The society describes itself as committed to the promotion, advancement and quality control of the technique. No research claim is made on the pages we checked, and we make none on its behalf.

An upper-cervical orthogonal procedure descended from the Grostic work, built on precise x-ray line analysis of atlas misalignment.

What it emphasises

The society's own Level I course description introduces "the X-ray portion of the Grostic procedure for correcting the atlas subluxation", and the seminar series is built around a shared reference text, Orthospinology Procedures: An Evidence-Based Approach to Spinal Care.

Feel of the community

Not yet sourced.

Who it tends to fit

Not yet sourced.

Certification path

A sequence of Level I, Level II and Advanced seminars. Successful completion of Level I is a prerequisite for attending Level II; Level I and II are often run together as a combined weekend, Saturday 8am to 5pm and Sunday 8am to 2pm. Doctors and students both attend. A laptop is required, and attendees are asked to bring any upper cervical orthogonal film of themselves on a USB drive. unverified Whether a formal certification or proficiency rating sits above the Advanced seminar.

Cost

Enrolment includes course materials the society values at roughly $145 — a digital copy of the reference text, a Resultant Line Locator, an Orthospinology Protractor, a Resultant Angles Booklet and an atlas key chain. Professional courtesy adjustments and post x-rays at the seminar are offered for an additional $150. unverified The seminar registration fee itself.

Who teaches it, and where

Named instructors hosting in their own practices — recent series have run in Stow, Ohio and Williamsburg, Virginia — with registration through the society's own event pages.

Evidence posture

The tradition teaches from a shared reference text whose subtitle describes an evidence-based approach. We report the title as published and take no position on the literature behind it, here or anywhere else on this page.

A low-force method delivering the adjustment through a handheld spring-loaded instrument, organised around a standardised leg-length testing sequence called the Basic Scan Protocol. Co-developed by Arlan W. Fuhr and Warren C. Lee; the company is based in Phoenix.

What it emphasises

AMI positions the Basic Scan Protocol as "the cornerstone of the Activator Method", with later courses adding upper and lower extremity work and clinical topics such as TMD, infants and myofascial trigger points.

Feel of the community

Not yet sourced.

Who it tends to fit

Not yet sourced.

Certification path

Two ratings. Proficiency: complete and pass the Basic Scan Protocol course, then take and pass the practical examination provided by Activator Methods. Advanced Proficiency: hold the Proficiency rating and complete the Upper Extremities and Lower Extremities courses. Ratings lapse and are regained by re-passing — the Basic Scan Protocol restores Proficiency, and either extremities course restores Advanced Proficiency. Passing earns a free listing in the organisation's Find a Doctor directory.

Cost

unverified Seminar and course fees are not published on the public pages we checked.

Who teaches it, and where

AMI states it runs more than forty technique seminars a year worldwide, with basic/intermediate and advanced tracks at each. Courses are also delivered through Activator Institute VT, its virtual platform, and hosted by chiropractic colleges including Logan University. CE approval varies by state and AMI puts the responsibility to check on the registrant, with no refunds for unapproved credits.

Evidence posture

AMI states that its instrument is recognised and covered by Medicare, that roughly 150,000 licensed professionals worldwide are trained in the method, and that it is the only instrument adjusting technique taught at a majority of chiropractic colleges. These are the organisation's own claims and we neither verify nor rank them.

A tonal, instrument-delivered approach using the Integrator, an adjusting instrument built to reproduce torque and recoil. Developed by Jay M. Holder; it debuted on campus at Life College in 1995. It sits in two layers because it is instrument-delivered but describes itself in tonal terms.

What it emphasises

In the tradition's own words: "TRT does not treat a condition, disease or symptom; it only proposes that in adjusting a subluxation we can improve the patient's state of well-being and human potential." It describes itself as "a non-linear, vitalistic & tonal model" and teaches non-linear adjusting priorities rather than a fixed sequence.

Feel of the community

Not yet sourced.

Who it tends to fit

Not yet sourced.

Certification path

The basic seminar runs Friday 2pm to 7pm and Saturday 8am to 7pm, with an optional non-lecture hands-on workshop on the Sunday morning. Completing it leads to a Proficiency Certificate. Advanced Proficiency is awarded to those who have taken at least two basic seminars and one hands-on workshop, and passed the written exam. Seminars are open to any DC.

Cost

unverified Registration fees are not published on the public pages. Returning attendees are offered a $100 credit for each new doctor they refer.

Who teaches it, and where

Taught by Jay M. Holder and Aaron M. Holder at most locations, with some seminars led by other named instructors, at hotel and in-practice venues across the US and internationally. 15 CEU hours are applied for in most states; the organisation tells attendees to confirm their own state's approval.

Evidence posture

TRT states that the Integrator was developed out of a randomised, blinded, placebo-controlled clinical trial designed with a biostatistician at the University of Miami School of Medicine and funded in part by a grant from the Florida Chiropractic Society, and that the instrument is legally marketed in the United States. Recorded as the tradition's account of its own origins; not independently assessed here.

Not a technique but a framework laid over whatever technique you already use, organised around the geometry of the body and the force dynamics of how subluxation forms and releases.

What it emphasises

In its own words, "BGI is a framework for understanding how the subluxation expresses through the system, to bring greater mastery to your adjusting, regardless of your chiropractic technique." The seminars teach tensegrity and the four primary geometric planes, and describe examining chiropractic "from a post-Newtonian point of view."

Feel of the community

The only thing we will quote here is the organisation's own note on its practitioner directory, because it is unusually explicit: the experience designations "are only meant to organize, not create hierarchy or reflect ability."

Who it tends to fit

Not yet sourced.

Certification path

There is no certification. There is a three-seminar series — BGI 1 covers posterior geometry, BGI 2 the anterior and sagittal, BGI 3 the coronal — and completing all three is described as the Full Series. The directory records seminar attendance as a descriptive designation, not a proficiency rating, and listings are renewed every three years with a one-month renewal window after which a listing is removed. Seminars are open to chiropractors and chiropractic students.

Cost

unverified Seminar fees are set per event with early-bird and package pricing. Published policy: refunds more than 30 days out incur a $25 fee, less than 30 days a $100 fee, and none on or after the seminar start; seminar credits never expire and transfer to an equivalent seminar. The practitioner directory listing asks for a $5 or $15 donation.

Who teaches it, and where

Official BGI instructors at seminars worldwide, plus BGI electives at Life University, BGI Osseous, BGI Animal and Playshops, and a virtual classroom scheduled on request. CEs are available for many BGI 1 seminars, with BGI paying Life University to provide the credit. A minimum of 15 paid attendees is required for a seminar to run.

Evidence posture

BGI presents itself as a conceptual and geometric framework rather than an outcome claim, and makes no efficacy claim on the pages we checked. We make none either.

A tonal approach using precise low-force contacts intended to cue the nervous system to release stored tension, developed by Donald Epstein, and taught alongside Somato-Respiratory Integration (SRI), a set of breath and awareness exercises.

What it emphasises

unverified We could not locate a current organisation-published description in this pass. Descriptions widely repeated on practitioner sites are not published here as the tradition's own words.

Feel of the community

Not yet sourced.

Who it tends to fit

Not yet sourced.

Certification path

unverified This is a gap on our side, not a judgement about the tradition. We could not locate a public page setting out training levels, prerequisites, hours, exams or fees in this pass. Practitioner websites refer to Levels I, II and III and to a Master-E designation, and name the Association for Network Care as the membership body — but a description on a practitioner's own site is not an organisation's published requirement, and we do not print one as the other. Ask the organisation for the current path, and tell us where it lives so we can fill this in.

Cost

unverified

Who teaches it, and where

Seminars have historically been taught by Donald Epstein and by an international teaching staff, in the United States and abroad. unverified The current teaching roster and calendar.

Evidence posture

Sources disagree on basic history: different accounts date the work's beginning to 1984, 1985 and 1987. We record the disagreement rather than choosing one. Proponents describe the approach as evidence-based and point to published research; assessing that is outside what this page does.

Not a technique. A recurring multi-day programme founded in November 1964, built around chiropractic philosophy, practice and personal direction, for chiropractors and their administrative staff together.

What it emphasises

In its own words: "DE is more than a series of classes and presentations. DE is more than a platform of quality speakers and practice building ideas! DE is an experience which will have a positive and profound effect on all aspects of your personal and professional life." The programme states its original purpose was to help chiropractors serve patients at a time when the profession was under heavy criticism.

Feel of the community

Not yet sourced from the organisation or an attributed practitioner.

Who it tends to fit

Not yet sourced.

Certification path

None. DE is a recurring meeting rather than a credentialing body, and attendance carries no designation.

Cost

unverified Registration is handled by phone and through the DE site; fees are not published on the public pages we checked.

Who teaches it, and where

DE meetings at rotating US locations. Historically relevant to anyone choosing a school: DE preceded and helped fund the founding of Life College, now Life University, and Williams also founded Life Chiropractic College West — so a student at either institution is standing inside this lineage whether or not they ever attend a meeting.

Evidence posture

DE makes practice-growth and personal-development claims rather than clinical ones. Neither category is assessed here.

A membership and training body certifying chiropractors in pregnancy and pediatric care. It implemented Webster Technique Certification in 2000; the course and certification were developed by Connie Webster and Dr Jeanne Ohm.

What it emphasises

In its own words, the Webster course teaches "the Webster Technique along with advanced, complementary protocols", built around "the physiological concept that utilizing the Webster Technique throughout pregnancy may eliminate the causes of dystocia."

Feel of the community

Not yet sourced.

Who it tends to fit

Not yet sourced.

Certification path

Webster: a 13-hour course, then a three-part proficiency exam — an on-site practical, an online written, and a principles and practice component. ICPA auto-renewing membership is required both to register and to keep the certification. Students may take the seminar, then upgrade to DC status after graduation to sit the written exam. Pediatric (CACCP): 20 required courses, with 60 in-person hours for US DCs, plus a final exam; coursework typically takes 14 to 18 months and the final exam a further 3 to 6 months. Diplomate: the full curriculum, plus participation in an ICPA Practice-Based Research Network data-collection project, one published peer-reviewed case study, three written patient testimonials, an original filmed one-hour course, 20 hours of further ICPA CE and CPR/First Aid.

Cost

Webster course: $580 for DC members and $460 for student members, both including a $100 certification fee. CACCP final exam registration: $500, not included in the programme fee. ICPA states that previously completed qualifying coursework is credited at the certification rate so nobody pays twice for the same course. Membership dues are additional. unverified Current membership dues and full certification enrolment pricing.

Who teaches it, and where

ICPA seminars in person, often on chiropractic college campuses, with an on-demand recorded format for international and non-contiguous US members. Seminars are eligible for up to 12 CE hours based on recorded attendance.

Evidence posture

Worth knowing, and unusually self-correcting: in 2012 ICPA's research director and Dr Ohm published a paper clarifying the definition and application of the Webster technique, which reiterated that members should stop using the terms "breech turning" and "in-utero constraint". We report that as a documented change in the organisation's own language, not as an evaluation of the technique.